Advertisement
Published: June 15th 2017
Edit Blog Post
Our Glacier National Park trip began today and it started out in the dark. We had the alarm set for 3:15am for our early flight, but for some odd reason our power went out around 2:30am. What's worse than having to get ready at 3am for a flight - getting ready at 3am in the complete darkness. Can't see what we forgot to pack and can't even see what we might look like after an attempt to be presentable using a flashlight. And as luck would have it, the power came back on as we were heading out the door. Pretty typical for me. We made it to our flight with no other issues and changed planes in Chicago. I guess I can technically say I have been to Illinois now. We landed safely in Kilespell, picked up our rental car and headed to the park.
By the time we were on the road, it was only 11:30. That whole time zone thing can have its benefits. It took a minute to get our bearings and then found our way to Glacier. We were entering from the west side, promptly named West Glacier. After picking up a map we took
the Going To The Sun Road. I had been monitoring the snow plow progress for a few weeks for this road and new it was likely not to be entirely open during our trip for there were apparently 60foot drifts in some areas, but was still hopeful. The road travelled alongside Lake McDonald making it a scenic drive. We stopped along the way taking in the sights. We reached the area titled Avalanche - which is where the blockade was placed preventing you from driving further. We thought we might be able to drive further as there was no signs of snow in that area, but guessing due to the large parking area at Avalanche, that is the most sensible spot to create the blockade so that traffic can turn around. Hikers and bikers can continue on the road for many miles. There were quite a few people who were taking advantage of that option, but we were not so inclined.
Though we were not up for hiking to the Sun, we did opt for a shorter hike titled Trail of the Cedars. And yes, it contained lots of cedar trees. They were quite massive. The trail was easy
and a good starter hike for us. We returned to our car and headed back down the mountain. We were both very tired and it had already been a long day. We checked in to our accommodations for this trip and stretched out a bit.
Our accommodations for this trip is a bed and breakfast in Columbia Falls. It was impressive. I have not stayed at many B&Bs but thought this one was awesome. The grounds were beautiful and amenities were beyond what we could have hoped for. In addition to our spacious room with a private bath, there was a rec room, media room with snacks, outdoor seating areas, grill and kitchen for our use, library containing lots of info on the park and surrounding areas, gourmet breakfasts, a borrowing closet (we could borrow coolers, binoculars, hiking sticks, bear spray, back packs, etc), and wildlife that frequented the grounds. They even had bicycles and kayaks to lend out. It was quite nice.
After a quick rest, we went back into town for dinner. The choices were limited since it was Sunday, but found a spot. We then went straight back to our room. We were exhausted from
all the driving, flying, and time zone changes. We called it a night even though it was still day light outside. It doesn't get dark until around 11pm in these parts and the sun comes up quite early. That will take some getting use to.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.073s; Tpl: 0.025s; cc: 12; qc: 34; dbt: 0.0328s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb